Just Another Night
by saraki
Summary: Vash and Meryl become stranded in the middle of nowhere when their car stops working, Meryl becomes ill and Vash has to take care of her for a while in the desert... possible just a one-shot


"YOU IDIOT!" Meryl screeched wildly as the tall blond ducked, the piece of wood flung far as he looked stupidly at it for a moment before turning his head towards Meryl,

"Hey! We need that!"

Her response was another piece of wood chucked mercilessly towards his head, ducking in the nick of time he watched Meryl fume,

"I said was sorry!"He whined loudly, Meryl breathe in and out slowly as her cheeks burned red, she growled fiercely, "Out!" She pointed to the exit of the small cave, he clenched his fist as he watched the stubborn woman in front of him, this was essentially her fault. He had to go to Lerumant to meet someone on the status of Knives health, preferably Doc, saying he would come back as soon as possible. But, as usual, the smaller insurance girl had no trust in him.

'She had to come along and say that they had to come and keep me under surveillance, that, and I quote 'it is our sole purpose as keep an eye on you blah, blah, blah ...''

As if by habit he tucked his yellow glasses closer to his nose, stubbornly sitting downto unload his stuff, "I'm not going anywhere, I said I was sorry, besides, you want me to freeze to death?"

The cold stare he received was enough to say that she herself would drag his sorry butt out of the cave and into the cold sand,

"Sorry, Sorry! You drove like a madman! And thanks to your reckless driving were stuck in the middle of nowhere! And it will take us days to reach our destination by my calculations!"

She watched in irritation as he looked out into the dessert, "Are you even listening to me?"

Silence,

She growled in frustration, why couldn't Millie come? At least she would feel more comfortable with her partner by her side, but Millie had protested and claimed she was staying to pay the bills on the car they had recently bought, along with the payments of the house, so, it was most vital for her to stay and go to work. Shaking her head silently she watched Vash make a fire. The fire lit up with a small crackle as Vash leaned onto the wall of a rock nearby, she sat down as she started to unpack,

'Might as well get comfortable, were not going anywhere until tomorrow, it's too dark to go anywhere anyways…'

She watched the fire as it crackled and popped, the cave was smaller than she would of liked, but at least they had somewhere to stay, her attention went bask to the fire, ' "Will that be enough for tonight?"

Meryl pointed to the fire, her only response from Vash was a shrug as he turned and grabbed a green half empty bottle from a small, black backpack he had recently bought for traveling. He opened it with ease as he drank slowly, feeling better as the liquid burned his throat and momentarily gave him warmth. Meryl watched Vash bitterly as he sat cross legged with his back to the cold stone and the bottle in his hands, the blanket thrown carelessly over him,

"Mr. Vash, you really shouldn't drink, it's bad for you,"

He merely shrugged again and downed another drink from the bottle in front of her, smiling slightly as he watched her cheeks turn a slight shade of red. Vash watched her from behind his glasses with hidden amusement. He was about to take another swig from the bottle, but Meryl quickly snatched it from his grasp, sitting down on the opposite direction of Vash, she cocked her head to one side,

"You know what Mr Vash, the fire seems to be a little low…"

He watched in puzzlement as she cocked the bottle in her hand, quickly realizing in horror what she was about to do he reached out for the bottle, but missed as she quickly poured in the remaining alcohol in the fire, causing the fire to rise sharply an then go back to normal,"Much better!"She smiled as she watched him gape, throwing the bottle back at him, Vash quickly held it upside down, his tongue sticking out in a sad attempt to catch any droplets, when he found none he looked at Meryl, she smiled sweetly. She stretched her arm towards the small fire, smirking slightly as she yawned,

"Good night Mr. Vash,"

Vash mumbled a goodnight as he angrily went to sleep, pouting slightlyas he threw the empty bottle near his backpack.

* * *

Meryl woke up shivering, turning over to the fire she realized it had gone out, and they had no more wood to feed the fire, it was getting colder as she wrapped her blanket closer to her body in an attempt to warm herself up and go to sleep, "Insurance girl? Are you awake?" Meryl nodded slowly to emphasize that she was,

"Are you cold?"

"n-no I'm o-ok"

He watched as she tried to poorly hide the fact that she was shivering, "It's going to get colder…" He added in a troubled manner, he shifted uncomfortably as he noticed the dying fire, cursing himself for not being prepared for this type of thing, he got up and walked over to Meryl, she had shut her eyes in an attempt to go back to sleep. He hunched down in front of her face and touched it, she felt his warm touch and opened her eyes in surprise,

"W-what are you doing," She asked softly, too cold at the moment to be angry at him,

"You're freezing," He added gently, sitting near her,

"So," She whispered as she saw him stand, her eyes following his movements,

"Don't hurt me ok, I don't want you to freeze," He picked her up with guilt, she was freezing and it was because of him. She would have told him to put her down, but had realized he was warm, his warmth was almost welcomed to her.

"Why are you so warm?"

She asked timidly as he sat back Indian style with her on his lap, he wrapped his cover over both of them, "My blanket is specially designed to be used out in the dessert at nigh,"

"So... that's how you've survived the nights out in the dessert huh?" He nodded as he sensed her losing consciousness, "Vash… its ok, I'm sorry for being so mean, it wasn't your fault the car stopped working…"

He looked down as she snuggled closer to his body without thinking, wrapping his arms around her still form he watched her silently until she was warmer, to go to sleep.

* * *

She felt as light a feature, she felt something warm against her skin, she could feel movement, but her feet were no were near the floor… opening her eyes slowly Meryl stared ahead, she could see the vast dessert, blinking a few times she looked at the ground, as she felt herself halt, seeing two boots underneath her she frowned and slowly looked up. The tall gunman grinned with his usual trademark smile, "Hello there," 

She screamed

"Pervert! Just what the hell are you doing! Put me down!" She slapped him hard across the face as she fell with an 'ouf' to the floor, her cheeks flashed red with embarrassment, "Just what the hell do you think you were doing!"

"Hey calm down, I wanted to get a head start, but I didn't want to wake you since you looked so tired!" He waved his hands in front of him as she clenched her fist threateningly, "I didn't do anything, promise!"

"Sure, you good for nothing, skirt chaser," She turned to walk, hoping to clear the redness from her cheeks before he noticed her embarrassed blush,

"I have a feeling you don't trust me…"

"Wow, your smarter than you look,"

She waved one of her arms as she started walking towards the direction they were heading, felling a little lightheaded she shook it off,

"Hey, don't leave me here!" He wined as she started walking,

"Then get your sorry ass up and hurry up!"

Vash watched her from were he sat, hurriedly got up, and dusted himself,

"Coming!"

Running towards the smaller figure he walked in a steady pace, eying her in deep concern as her face paled slightly,

"Are you okay?"

"Yes I'm okay,"

She snapped,

"Just ask'in..."

He repliedquickly, but could'nt help but feel something was wrong, andeventually shook it off.As the day passed though, they walked slower and slower to a point in were Vash had to stop and wait for her, finally stopping for the fifth time that day he glanced back worriedly, of course, having been a traveler for such a time he had felt almost at home in the dessert, although very lonely, but homey. He had not expected the same thing for her though. Meryl was much less experienced when it came to the dessert and most likely had never traveled as much as he had, besides those times they would travel with him, but even then he was worried that they would get heat strokes so he started using means of transportation to get him from place to place so the girls would'nt have to suffer.

Watching her from behind his glasses he frowned as he completely turned over to watch her, she had a pasty look and was walking slower, much slower than usual, she was now that he noticed farther then he had realized,

"Insurance Girl! Are you okay?"

"I-I'm okay…. Ke-ep on wal-king I'll ca-tch up…."

He could hear her breathing harshly, until she fell to the floor, he stood there shouting,

"Insurance girl! Meryl! Are you okay?"

When she gave no response he panicked, sprinting over to were she had fallen. Vash knelt harshly onto the sand, being careful in turning her over. Touching her forehead he found it to be too hot to be okay, he had to get her out of the sun fast. Quickly thinking he took of is own protective black coat, leaving only his white shirt, quietly thanking the Doc for giving it to him, he wrapped her in it to protect her from the sun. She was sweating heavily, not a good sign, he only hoped they would get to the nearest town quickly, picking her up he started to walk in hopes of finding a town nearby before dark.

* * *

After traveling excessively until to the point of collapsing he figured that it was better to stop before he fell to the ground in exhaustion and took Meryl with him. Sighing loudly he wearily found a nice rock he could lean on not to far way. Calmly setting her down he covered her shivering body with his blanket, rummaging around in his pack he had managed to take out a little bit of what looked liked dried mixture of herbs, grabbing a bottle Vash added the herbs into the canteen, shaking it fiercely to make sure it fused into the water, he gave it to Meryl in small doses to making sure she drank it. Hopefully the medicine he'd given her would help lower her temperature. Putting the canteen back in his pack he walked over to Meryl, picking her up as gently as he could, he took the blanket and wrapped it around himself and Meryl, leaning on the rock he looked up at the stars. If Meryl ever found out what he had just done he was sure she would kill him, or, shoot him, both would end painfully. He felt her shiver and tucked the blanket closer, her breathing was raged and he cursed himself again for not making sure they were well prepared for the trip.

Wrapping the blanket over them he nuzzled his nose into her hair with ought thinking, with the herbs he gave her she would recover slowly. Although she tends to be bitchy, one had to admit, Meryl had a good side, she just has a hard time showing it. He laid his head on her shoulder lightly, it was just a matter of time before she would wake up, it almost made him sad. But her health was more important, so for now, he would only make sure she would get better, but that didn't mean he would stop looking after her, as long as she was with him, he would keep her safe, he would make sure no harm would ever come to her,

"That,"

He whispered,

"I promise."

* * *

She felt like hell, no doubt about it, oh yes, and someone would pay, preferably the blond idiot who had in some way managed to kill the car and strand them in the middle of nowhere, even if it wasn't his fault. She shifted a little as she felt softness on her back, sand does'nt feel so soft… she wearily opened her eyes slowly as the faint smell of something good caught her attention, blinking a couple of times she found it easier to recognize her surroundings. Realized that they were no longer in the desert she looked around, she was in a hotel room, how did she get here? 

"Oh hey you're up, I was wondering when you were going to wake up," "Mr. Vash?"He popped out of nowhere and sat near her bed, her stomach grumbled, she blushed in embarassement, he laughed "Well, at least you woke up hungry, I made some soup, used to make it all the time when I got sick, hold on let me go get it," He walked out of the room momentarily as she got up to a sitting position, he came back with small bowl of soup,

"My own secret recipe ya know," He winked as she took the soup, a faint blush crept up her cheeks again, "Um, Mr Vash, were are we?"

"Were in a small town called Derao,"

"Are we close to Lerumant?" She asked, sipping the soup as she watched him,

"Umm, well, I lost the map Millie gave me, and when I asked the locals were it was they told me theyhad no idea, so the only option is to go back home and to send them a letter." She nodded quietly as she finished the soup, "Mr. Vash, this is... good! I never thought you could cook,"

"Yea, well I can't live off eating donuts you know," He laughed as she handed him the bowl, asking if she wanted seconds shenodded, she was really hungry, and the attention she was getting from Vash only made her happier, she stopped as she looked back at Vash,

"Mr. Vash, how long have I been asleep" "Oh about three days," Meryl looked around, now that she realized it, the hotel looked pretty fancy,"So… how did I get here?" "Um… well you see….." He fumbled as he tried to get the words out, should he lie or tell the truth? Honesty is the best policy after all…

"Vash…"She said warningly, "Okay, okay, umm, well ah… a .. bus… a bus came and I… got it to stop and it brought us here…" Meryl watched him before shrugging and falling back to her pillow,

"Oh ok,"

Vash sighed loudly as she fell back to sleep, something's are better left unsaid…

* * *

Millie, sat happily on the couch, reading letters that were sent to her by her relatives when a soft knock came from the door, getting up she walked towards the door, "Ah I'm sorry ma'am must have the wrong house, do you know if a man by the name of Ericks lives around here?" 

"Oh you mean Mr. Vash?" She smiled as he started laughing "Yes, and who might you be dear?" "Huh? Oh my name is Millie Thomson,"

"I see, well you can call me Doc," He extended his hands and she shook it, "Miss Thomson, is Vash here? I came to report to him about Knives status,"

"No, he's not here right now, he should be back soon in a couple of days,"

"Oh dear, and I was really hoping to see him, oh well he's rather busy,"

"Oh yes, but if you can tell me I'll tell him as soon as he gets back,"

"That would be wonderful, I have a lot of things to do, just tell Vash that his brother is doing well and that we are keeping him under surveillance, well that's about it, send Vash my greetings and I hope you have a pleasant day," As she closed the door she chuckled lightly, hoping that he had not heard her she walked towards her room and scurried into her closet, taking out a cup of pudding she hummed. Licking her spoon she spotted a small metal looking item on the floor, picking it up she threw it in the thrash, "Wouldn't want Mr. Vash and Meryl to see the part I took out of the car now would I,"

She chuckled lightly, throwing the empty pudding cup into the same trashcan she headed towards the living room. Thinking up of the name was easy and getting them to take the car with ought noticing that a very special part of the car was missing was the easy part. The hard part was getting Meryl to go with Mr. Vash alone, hopefully, they would have enough time to get to know each other better. Grabbing her helmet for work she chuckled, it was going to work this time, she was sure of it, opening the door she walked out and closed it, still humming as she put her cap on and walked of to work.


End file.
